McCain for President or How Obama doesn’t get it

Unfortunately for him his dreams of change and hope now must meet reality. When he ascends to his media given throne in January the realities he faces will be much harder than he could imagine and thus he will be a one term President. I guarantee that based on his proposals during the campaign and the stunning lack of knowledge most voters had about this man.

As I say this don’t think it is sour grapes on my part. While I do not support Obama and his “teach the world to sing in perfect harmony” view of the world, I can admire, at least, his place in history. I still believe in America and as John McCain stated repeatedly throughout the campaign, It will always be COUNTRY first.

The most troubling thing about this election, however, was not the tit for tat attacks both campaigns had but what little information voters actually tried to find out about the candidates. I can only assume Democrats once again love exit polls today as they were used by every network last night, and really throughout the campaign, to decide the winner. Based on these exit polls, voters apparently showed up to vote yesterday for reasons other than issues. A stunning 59% of voters, more than half for those who don’t know math either, cast a ballot based on something other than issues. This includes Republicans as well as Democrats but mostly Democrats, since they filled out 64% of the exit polls to 34% for Republicans.

What does this mean?

Probably for the first time in our history the voters elected a man based on nothing more than personality and rhetoric. Never before, in recent history, has a President been elected when the pundits were at a loss to describe what his agenda might be for the nation. Voters seemed to not care about the what and why issue but rather solely focused on the who. To me that is the scariest part of this election.

Additionally, I read a report from CNN that stated race had nothing to do with this election. This was the paragraph after they stated that 96% of black voters sided with Obama. No not a factor at all! Yes, some of the 59% who voted based on something other than issues were the ignorant among us who still harbor racist tendencies but let’s be honest, race was a factor but not in the way the pundits predicted. But this is not to say that Obama should not be judged by the content of his character as Martin Luther King, Jr. wanted. Obama attracted a wide range of support because of his life story, even if that story still raises significant questions.

Thomas Jefferson spoke and wrote at length aboout an educated elecorate. In his musings he advocated educating every citizen in America. He stated that if we were ever at a crossroads in our history where the citizens were not enlightened enough to exercise their rights responsibly the remedy would not be to take those rights away but rather to focus on education as a cure. After 59% of the people voted for something other than the candidates stands on issues, I would say that we are now at a crossroad in our history.

A Federal judge in Ohio ruled on Tuesday that park benches and other locations that were not buildings could be used as addresses for homeless people so that they could vote next Tuesday.

U.S. District Judge Edmund Sargus allowed the listing of park benches as addresses for homeless people in the settlement of a suit involving the Secretary of State for Ohio, Jennifer Bruner and the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless (Ne.O.C.H.?). While there is little detail about how the judge came to this decision, I can only imagine his notes were filled with doodles that say I (Heart) Obama, Obama and Sargus-TLA, and stuffed inside the docket was a folded up note that read “Barack, Harry, Nancy and Barney, meet me outside the courthouse during lunch! I can’t wait!”. The floodgates are now open for more voter fraud in Ohio than ever before. Buses are probably already being rented by the Obamats to take up “residency” in Ohio on election day.

But enough of the negatives. The upside of this ruling is that since these people are no longer homeless and “own” a piece of “property”, they must pay income tax on the assessed value of their “property”. Tax bases across Ohio should swell as “locationally disabled” people take up residence in parks across Ohio. Rules will obviously have to be followed, first street rules then from the legislative branches of government, on how one acquires these pieces of property and how they will in turn be able to sell them. I’m thinking squatters rights apply initially, at least until after Nov 4. In addition to this the housing market should see a significant upswing in the state in the months of October and November as residency is established at “Public Bench 1929″ thus providing Wall Street with the much needed good news to sustain positive numbers for an entire week. By the way, what are the taxes on a 6x4x2 bench in the middle of Cleveland?

This ruling is BOGUS!!!! Park benches,sidewalks and heating grates are not viable locations to take up a residence. As sad as the homeless situation may be Barack Obama has yet to take one ” locationally disabled” person into his home and Joe Biden only gave .2% ($398) of his salary to charity last year. So how much do they care about these people?

This is about votes and the Democrats feeling that they are OWED an election because of 2000. But where was the popular vote argument in their primary? This is about votes and the Democrats feeling that they must be the first party to put a black man in the White House to make their party platforms of inclusion viable again.

Well, all I can say is–see you in Ohio on election day. I’ll be the “homeless man” on the bench at the mall.

“You know if you look at the victories and the failures of the Civil Rights movement and its litigation strategy in the Court, I think where it succeeded was to invest formal rights in previously dispossessed peoples so that I would now have the right to vote, I would now be able to sit at the lunch counter and order as long as I could pay for it I would be okay. But the Supreme Court never ventured into the issues of redistribution of wealth and sort of more basic issues of political and economic justice in this society. And to that extent as radical as I think people try to characterize the Warren Court, it wasn’t that radical,it didn’t break free from the essential constraints that were placed by the Founding Fathers in the Constitution, at least as its been interpreted and the Warren Court interpreted it in the same way that generally the Constitution is a charter of negative libertiessays what the states can’t do to you, says what the federal government can’t do to you, but it doesn’t say what the federal government or the state government must do on your behalf and that hasn’t shifted. And one of the I think the tragedies of the Civil Rights movement was because the Civil Rights movement became so court focused I think that there was a tendency to lose track of the political and community organizing and activities on the ground that are able to put together the actual coalitions of power through which you bring about redistributive changeand in some ways we still suffer from that.” – Barack Obama, 2001 radio interview with Chicago Public Radio

Why does this quote made in 2001 from Obama have the campaign worried? How is this redistribution of wealth phrase different than Joe the Plumber’s answer? There are a few reasons.

1) Barack Obama says in the opening sentence that the civil rights movement did not go far enough to correct past injustices. In Obama’s view the Civil Rights movement allowed him to eat at his local Denny’s without being kicked out or forced to eat in another section. It also utilized the courts more than it should have to affect change.

2) Obama told Joe the Plumber he wanted to redistribute the wealth and in this quote we see that his agenda for change has always included that idea. However, he again criticizes the Supreme Court for not venturing into economic inequalities that existed, and as he sees it still exist, in the 1960’s. With two openings on the Supreme Court coming, this statement clearly shows what kind of Justices he would seek to place in the highest court.

3) Most disturbing is Obama’s idea of “the Constitution as a charter of negative liberties”. Thanks to a quick review of Wikipedia, a negative liberty is essentially a personal liberty that people have to pursue their interests whether they be economic or otherwise. A positive liberty is a liberty that is collective or communal in nature and is used by leaders to promote programs for the good of the citizenry. In other words, if you make too much money those under you suffer so for the good of the people a leader will “tax” your money to give it to someone else. Or anither way would be to say that guns kill people so for the good of the people their ownership should be curtailed. Essentially Obama is laying out his plan to rewrite the fundamentals of the Constitution either through legislative or judicial means.

4) Finally, Obama admits in 2001 that ACORN and other community groups would be used to advance his agendas when he states that community organizations were left behind by the civil rights movement and their influence should have been utilized more.

Presumably Obama was not running for the Presidency in 2001 and thus these comments are his true feelings. While some may find the redistribution theory alarming in Obama’s answer, what should be more disturbing is Obama’s willingness to call the Constitution flawed becasue it does not say what the government MUST do for the citizens. This statement from 2001 is the clearest example yet of Obama’s theory on government and what he means by CHANGE.

In two weeks America will have a new President elect. On November 5th, either Barack Obama or John McCain will be waiting in the on deck circle, preparing to step up to the plate on January 21 ( let’s face it the 20th is ceremonial). But how will they get from here to there? If you are Barack Obama and the media, it will be because they confused voters enough to make them dizzy through their endless spin cycle.

It started two weeks ago with “joe the Plumber”. Joe was a normalguy asking a question of a Presidential hopeful, Barack Obama. To his credit, Obama gave the only answer to the only tough question he has ever been asked and stated that Joe would have to “spread the wealth” if he bought a business that makes $250,000 or more a year. Since then “Joe” has become a villain to the media. ABC,CBS,CNN, etc have cast doubt on this plumber from Ohio by questioning his income tax returns, his divorce, his job, and even his legitimate right to vote in Ohio. ALL BECAUSE HE ASKED A QUESTION!!!!!!

What did Senators Obama and Biden do in the wake of “Joe” asking a question and then being attacked by the media? The Senators continued, and still continue, the attack on this plumber. In stump speeches across America, Obama and Biden have attacked Joe saying that they don;t know of any “plumber” making $250,000 a year. They have attcked his work ethic saying that the real “Joe the Plumber” would actually be helped under an Obama plan because he would not be a plumber who makes that much. In other words the real “Joes” of America would never aspire to owning more than their fair share of the market. Senator Biden might even call the plumber from Ohio “unpatriotic” because he would refuse to pay higher taxes as a small business owner.

AHHHH the spin!!

Then Colin Powell comes out and says that he is endorsing Obama. Immediately the surrogates and pundits rush the airwaves and say that Colin Powell is a man whose judgement is sought and respected by all leaders. Yes, Powell is a well respected member of the Armed Forces as well as several Presidential Administrations. But only 4 years ago Powell was the demon child who forced America into a war in Iraq, a war Obama “voted” against in the Illinois Senate(?).

With Powell’s endorsement the surrogates and Democratic pundits had to come up with a back story that supported Powell and Obama that did not factor in race. Ah ha! Now we have Colin Powell, the well respected, smart, and totally unbiased General was duped by the Bush administration and sold totally false information that he was forced to pass on to the U.N. I still respect Colin Powell and do not believe that race was the deciding factor in his endorsement but I can not believe that this man who was smart enough to rise to prominance in the military and politics was “duped” by the same President liberals criticize as uneducated or stupid.

AHHHHH the spin!!!!!!

John Murtha. Beloved Congressman from PA. Democrat. Supporter of Barack Obama. The same Obama who said us hicks in PA cling to our guns and religion and hated immigrants. It was John Murtha, in defense of this Barack Obama and the latest poll, stated that PA, at least the western half, may not go to Obama because PA is full of racist people who vote on color alone. Wait!! This week he apologized and said that PA was not racist it was just a redneck state. How do you spin that?

If you are a Democratic pundit you simply say that what he said was “years ago” or “what he meant was simply” and all is forgiven. What about this comment and Obama’s “clinging” comment being taken together to set a pattern? Irrelevant! Let’s move on!

AHHHH the spin!!!!!!

But move on we shall, to Joe Biden. Good old Scranton Joe! (It’s Thursday, his day to be from Scranton.) Just when he though the recording devices were off and no one was listening he says “mark my words”, “if you don’t remember anything else I say in this whole campaign”, if Senator Obama is elected he WILL be tested by the world in a “GENERATED” crisis created by other countries around the world. Then he even says that he doesn’t know if Obama will make the right decision initially but asked his supporters to stand with him anyway until he figured it out. Don’t worry Joe, we won’t forget this one just like we haven’t forgotten what you said in the primary.

The pundits and surrogates are on the move again! See what he meant was every President is tested and Obama will be no exception, they say. “Look at Reagan or Kennedy” they squawk! And as they don’t mention that Obamahas a wait and see foreign policy coupled witha new age “let’s talk about it” negotiating style, they leave out the fact that Reagan and Kennedy responded to their respective crisis with overwhelming force. Furthermore, the pundits yell, Obamaknows how to surround himself with people who know stuff, like Joe Biden and Colin Powell while John McCain has only lived through or legislated past crisis.

AHHHH the spin!!!!!!!

Finally, if the clothes make the man what is wrong with the woman getting some nice clothes too. While Barack Obama spends hundreds of dollars on each suit from Burberry or whoever the latest designer is, the RNC shelled out $150,000 for new clothes for the seven, that is 7, members of the Palin family. Roughly $21,000 per person. The RNC, a private organization that receives donations from people like me, bought clothes out of contributions, not tax money, for the VP candidate. And the clothes are going to be given to charity after the election. What is wrong with that?

According to the pundits and commentators, it just shows Sarah Palin’s inexperience.(?) Joy Blowhard from the view apparently has a real issue with this saying that Palin usually shoots her clothes but that style would not work on the campaign trail. ABC, et al, raises the question to voters that if Sarah Palin can afford a new wardrobe costing $150,000 from Neiman Marcus ” does she really share the same values as”, yep you guessed it, “Joe the Plumber”? I assume Brian Ross and Wolf Blitzerwill do in depth stories about boxers or briefs next.

AHHH the spin!!!!!!!

Be careful waht you listen to or see on the news. Even Fox News. Today the new AP poll came out and showed a dead heat in the race for President. A trend that has been seen in other long time polls. Yet today on ABC’s Good Morning America, George Stephanoplois did not even mention the AP poll numbers, something he regularly does. Instead he quoted the Quinipiac Poll numbers and showed state by state polls done by other polling organizations. Why? bias. And as if they are finally seeing the light, this week a CNN reporter even admitted to their bias in reporting!

The spin won’t slow down in the next two weeks. In fact it will only get faster. Look for the top news story being about Barack Obama’s compassionas he deals withhis “Grandmother who raised him” and her broken hip. I’m sure this story will become one about health care and the state of the economy in Hawaii. But voters beware! It’s all spin. In the last two weeks look beyond the spin and read the issues and listen to words and form your own opinion. Otherwise it’s like getting on a merry-go-round and asking Obama to push. Faster! and Faster! you cry until you don’t know up from down, right from left.

The biggest heart string issue any candidate can use to influence votes is the economy. The last few days have been a testament to this. While Obama uses “middle class” as a noun, verb and adjective in every speech, McCain has been trying to reassure Americans about the fundamentals of the economy. In light of the polls today, it would seem Obama is the better string player. But does he have the leadership and policies to back up what he is saying on the stump?

First to leadership. It was reported today that the Democratically controlled Congress is considering another recess in light of the current economic situation. The reason being that they don’t know what to do and don’t want to act in a manner that will cause any more harm. Obama himself has yet to take a position on the bailout of AIG saying he needs more information before he can react to what happened yesterday.

While it is true that John McCain is part of the same Congress that is considering another recess, it is also true that he is a member of the party that stayed in the House to push for a vote on energy reform after the last recess was called by Speaker Pelosi. The Republican representatives stayed in the House for days after the recess was called, lights out, trying to put pressure on the Democrats to allow an up or down vote on energy reform.

Unlike Obama, John McCain has taken a position on the bailout of AIG. According to ABC he is now a flip-flopper because he supports the bailout after he opposed it previously. But they miss the point. John McCain changed his position because he was able to see that if AIG was not given help in some manner-federal,private or the combination of both that has happened-the economy and millions of Americans who are associated with AIG in some way would have been decimated by even a partial failure. Call it a flip flop if you like but leaders know when and how to act, even if acting goes against what they believe.

Now, the policies. Once again these are policy statements directly out of Obama’s “Blueprint for America” and the expanded Issues section of the John McCain website. They are not the soundbites or anecdotes candidates use on the stump.

Obama’s plan starts with, what else, the middle class. While Obama is fond of talking about his tax cut and it’s perceived ability to help 95% of Americans, his plan does not address who is middle class. He does specify a tax credit that would be equal to $500 per individual or $1,000 per working family in what he calls the “Making Work Pay” tax credit. He says it would completely eliminate taxes for 10 million Americans and provide 150 million workers relief.

Obama also will simplify tax filings, allowing taxpayers the option of signing a returning a pre-filled tax form sent by the IRS. No itemization, no W, I or A forms, just sign a return. Accountants beware, estimates are you will lose approximately $2 billion in fees when this happens. Perhaps the accounts will need retraining after they lose their jobs, but not to worry Obama has provided for that in his plan.

First of all, if you take a job at McDonalds, your minimum wage will rise indexed to inflation. Simply put, small businesses are forced to pony up money every year for every worker, NOT based on performance. In addition Obama will raise the Earned Income Tax Credit so that you can work full-time and still raise a family. Not only that but Obama will expand FMLA to companies that employ as little as 25 people and allow time off for just about anything. While I can’t say that allowing time off under FMLA to see your kids soccer games is a bad idea, I can say that his idea to make states and companies to pay for FMLA time is a bad one. But to this end Obama has promised $1.5 billion to the states to help them pay for the new FMLA rules.

If you decide, as an out of work accountant, that you want to enter the manufacturing field, Obama is going to spend untold (literally, he has no number) dollar amounts on new job training programs. Using his education policy as a backdrop, most of this retraining will happen at community colleges where education will be free under an Obama administration. If you decide to stay at home and work, Obama will give you high speed Internet as he spends countless (again no number) dollars on companies who provide Internet connection services.

Of course Obama has a record to back up his economic policies and tax cuts. In 2007 he was a cosponsor on a bill (his site says he introduced it) by Dick Durbin called the Patriot Employer Act. The bill currently sits in committee. Did I mention the Congress that controls these committees is controlled currently by Obama’s own party. He also cosponsored the STOP FRAUD Act to help homeowners, it also sits in committee

Sen McCain’s proposals start off with a balanced budget by 2013. To achieve this McCain will:

make reasonable growth a reality

control spending

use bipartisanship like (hold on ) Bill Clinton did in the 90’s to pass a budget

In assuring growth Mccain believes that small businesses will benefit the economy the most. His proposals of low taxes and low rates on capital gains will allow those businesses to reinvest in their own future. Also small businesses would be able to deduct equipment and technology investments they make to improve their businesses. In addition to allowing businesses to reinvest in themselves, McCain is proposing reducing the Estate Tax to 15% which would allow more businesses to stay in the family. In addition the Bush tax cuts would stay in place and may even increase for all Americans.

Another way John McCain can assure growth is the implementation of his energy policy. Under his plans, which include ALL types of energy, new jobs would be created in America to build and support new energy development. In nuclear power alone it is estimated that over 700,000 jobs would be created under McCain’s plan. Retraining is also a priority in a Mccain Presidency and would be fully supported.

The second part of McCain’s plan to balance the budget is to control spending. John McCain’s efforts to control spending are famous and easily found on his congressional website. But in addition to earmarks, John McCain has proposed a freeze on all non-defense and non-veteran discretionary spending thus allowing time to plan and prioritize all spending programs. And as we draw down in Iraq and costs are reduced in the war, much of that money will go to deficit reduction, not universal health care.

One other point on spending. Much has been made about the “Bridge to Nowhere” in Alaska. Sarah Palin has been criticised for supporting the earmark before she was Governor and then voicing her opposition to it as Governor. John McCain voted “NO” to this earmark (H.r. 3, CQ Vote#220: Adopted 91-4:R 48-4;D42-0, I 1-0,7/29/2005)and was only one of 4 Senators to do so, Obama voted for it. When the money was allocated anyway, Palin did take the $36 million allocated BUT directed her Transportation Department to use it for infrastructure improvements in the state. This is in keeping with improvements sought after the government directed states to look at all of their infrastructure after the bridge collapse a few years ago. Here are two source to verify the bill-

Finally, John McCain’s record of bipartisanship shows that he can easily work with all members of Congress to make this happen. Just as Democrats and Republicans are coming together this week to slow the bleed in the financial sector, Sen McCain has worked with Ted Kennedy, Joe Lieberman and others to introduce legislation that, many times his own party did not support.

There is more to the McCain plan but I have gone on long enough (Printed text for McCain goes on for 14 pages, Obama has 5). Figuring out what each candidate is saying on the trail is difficult. Sen Obama clearly uses emotion over reason and Sen McCain tries reason more than he should sometimes. But after writing my longest post yet, the bottom line is this. On May 25, 2006 John McCain spoke to the Banking Committee and warned of the failure of Fannie and Freddie as well as others (AIG). Franklin Raines and Jim Johnson, now advisers to Obama, were executives in the banking industry then. Chris Dodd (D) was the ranking committee member and killed the resolution John McCain and others proposed. Where was the leadership of Obama and the Democrats then?

Here we go again! Another member of the Obama campaign is accusing the GOP of wearing white after Labor Day.

Kansas Gov Kathleen Sebelius, once thought of as a VP candidate for Obama, is the latest Obama surrogate to inject race into this election. On Tuesday she told a crowd in Iowa that the GOP is using code words to inject race into this election.

When asked if Obama and the Democrats would fight for a victory in November, Sebelius answered ” Have you noticed that Barack Obama is part African-American?” then added that the “Republicans are not going to go lightly into the darkness”. She has not clarified her comments yet.

Governor Sebelius is not some left wing blogger whose post you read and then discard as idiotic. She is a vocal supporter of Obama who has been asked by the campaign to travel around the country and speak on behalf of Obama. She was once considered an alternative to Hilary Clinton for the VP nomination. Sebelius is also the Governor of a state, a position she should take responsibly and not use to instill fear in voters.

Race is the elephant in the room according to Sen Obama, his surrogates, volunteers and the media( http://caffertyfile.blogs.cnn.com/2008/09/16/obama-race-a-factor/) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ia75o5IO3xo) . They want us to believe that the only way to improve race relations in this country is to vote Obama into the White House. To those promoting this idea I would have to ask a simple question. Is this what Martin Luther King, Jr meant when he said ” I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

In covering the failing banking industry and the mortgage mess, the media has been throwing around words like disaster, crisis, and dire like peanut vendors at a baseball game. Their irresponsible use of these words has prompted many questions about what McCain and Obama would do as President to correct what is happening on Wall Street and Main Street. Here are the plans of both candidates. The information on Barack Obama’s plan is taken directly from his “Blueprint For Change” while information on John McCain’s plan is taken from the expanded issues section of his website.

To provide relief for millions of people affected by the mortgage mess and the Wall Street debacle, Sen Obama has proposed a 10% universal mortgage credit that will provide $500 to about $10 million homeowners. The credit will help those making under $50,000 who do not itemize their taxes.

Additionally, Sen Obama will create a new HOME (Homeowner Obligation Made Explicit) score that will allow borrowers to measure their available mortgage options and will help them understand the full cost of the mortgage they enter into with a lender. This provision would seem to help new borrowers more than those already in a mortgage. It also keeps the borrower as the primary decision maker and leaves the burden of responsibility firmly with the borrower, which is where irt needs to be. However, there is nothing to stop the banking and investment industries from manipulating this score just as they manipulated numbers to get people into the sub prime mortgages in the last few years.

Finally Senator Obama has proposed, in his “Blueprint for Change”, a government fund to help “innocent” homeowners. While “innocent” is not defined by Obama I imagine that it means those homeowners who took out a bigger mortgage than they could afford on an adjustable rate loan. This fund would be paid for by the money received from increased penalties on lenders who have acted irresponsibly (those lenders currently going under?) or those convicted of fraud. While this sounds good because it targets the corporate greed Sen Obama and his colleagues hate, the fund is based on passage of what Sen Obama calls “his record” on this issue, the Stop Fraud Act.

The Stop Fraud Act is a bill sponsored by Obama and Dick Durbin that defines mortgage fraud, increases funding for law enforcement (?), and enacts new penalties for those found guilty of fraud. It also requires the industry to report suspicios activity, it does not say to who. The bill has been introduced to committee and referred to another committee, it has not been passed by the Congress, nor is it close to a general debate on the floor. By the way it was introduced in 2007 so I do have to ask where was his leadership on this issue? http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=s110-1222

Now onto Senator McCain.

Senator McCain has proposed a “Home Plan”, unfortunately HOME does not stand for anything cute like in Obama’s plan. Under this plan, Sen McCain would offer borrowers the chance to trade an existing mortgage that they can not pay for a mortgage that is more manageable under a fixed rate and reflects the market value of the home at the time. Of course there are restrictions but they favor those being hurt by their current situation. Those restrictions are as follows:

an eligible sub prime loan after 2005

prove your credit worthiness at the time of the original loan ( something you have to prove any way if you get a mortgage the right way)

are delinquent on payments or facing a reset or show that you can not meet your current obligations and

can meet the terms of a new fixed rate, 30 year, FHA backed loan

Under McCain’s plan there is no H.O.M.E. score or federal fund that has to be passed first. The plan has elements of a bill introduced by two Democrats (there is that record of bi-partisanship again), Barney Frank and Chris Dodd. The plan does require banks to forgive part of the loan principle and write a new loan for borrowers but the other option for the bank would be foreclosure, an option that would probably cost them more.

Borrowers under McCain’s plan also can apply by picking up a form at the post office or printing a form from the internet (is that a use of technology by McCain?). From there once the request is sent in, the loan request is approved by the FHA based on qualifications and then sent to the bank where the homeowner has their existing loan who retires and rewrites the loan to loan backed by the FHA.

Of course Sen McCain’s plan also addresses the speculators and financial market practitioners who handed out the sub prime loans in the first place. If a bailout is needed, Sen McCain believes that it should come at a cost to the financial industry, not taxpayers. A bailout would happen only to prevent failure and in return that institution would face greater transparency and accountability. This is the case with AIG, an institution that, if it failed and did not receive a partial bailout, would affect people around the globe. Perhaps the 9/11 commission Sen McCain has proposed recently would provide the transparency necessary to determine why the current situation happened and how it can be prevented in the future.

There are the two plans in detail. Of course I’m partial but as I see it, Sen Obama’s plan relies heavily on government and passage of bills and recommendations in Congress that have already taken over a year to go to committee. Unlike Sen Obama’s plan, Sen McCain’s plan could be instituted fairly easily and does not rely on new penalties that have not been discussed in committee yet. In addition penalties already exist under current banking laws (http://blownmortgage.com/2008/02/03/barack-obamas-mortgage-reform-policy/ for some insight) for lenders who engage in deceptive practices.

Sen Obama specifically points out that 10 million homeowners will benefit under his tax credit initiative. That is a far cry from the 200-400 million people Sen McCain is proposing to help immediately. Make your own choice on this issue but these are the facts and plans as stated by each candidate on their official websites. Hopefully, I will also be highlighting other issues in the future.

Sen Obama and his supporters praise his time as a community organizer in Chicago. They say that his experience in this position gave him the necessary skills to handle the duties of President of the United States. Well, lately they have said that they way he has run his campaign is proof of his ability to be President but I’ll just let that go and let it sink in for anyone reading this. But what is a community organizer? What do they do? I searched Yahoo answers but as usual I found nothing more than people expressing their beliefs. So I did a job search and here is what a community organizer does.

Portland, Oregon is looking for a community organizer after receiving grant money from the city to fund the position. The position’s function is listed as organizing, part time @ 10-15 hours per week. Their ideal candidate will have experience in community organizing, coordinating volunteers, a commitment to stability, familiarity with building codes and zoning regulations, experience being self motivated and a flexible schedule.

Still, how does one get experience in community organizing? According to the listing, a community organizer can coordinate volunteers into organized campaigns to educate the public , and lets not forget empower the public, and work with local officials to change whatever your campaign is focused on, i.e. zoning laws. As a community organizer YOU don;t change the laws, YOU just organize the campaign to get people to listen. Also if you are looking for this job you can look for the keywords as follows: grassroots organizing,policy change,building codes, zoning laws, or sustainable building. And just in case you want to be President someday her is the website. http://www.wiserearth.org/job/view/a21caf72e3e540128d5093d097e0bb7f

But let’s give Senator Obama the benefit of doubt. Perhaps he was a full time community organizer, what are his responsibilities then?

LA has an opening for a Hospitality Industry Community Organizer, full time. There is no education requirement, is categorized under Activism and Organizing, with salary of $40-$46,000. Your responsibilities in this position require you to develop strategy, reach out to the community and develop leaders in this organization. It also requires you to be a public speaker and work with others to advocate policy changes. The full -time requirement does tie up your weekends and isn’t 9-5. They do prefer previous campaign experience but it is not necessary. Also you must engage the community to talk about working conditions in this position. Again just in case you want to apply: http://www.idealist.org/if/i/en/av/Job/306821-281

Okay one more, this time in Chicago and dealing with the issue I think is one of the most important, education. Again, to be a lead organizer for the AFT Great Lakes Region, there is no education requirement. It is full time and the person must be focused on education, human and civil rights, job training and issues in the workplace. As the lead organizer in Chicago you would motivate people (they call them activists but in light of the RNC protests we’ll let that go), build relationships and organize plans that support the overall campaign you are organizing as the head of this organization. Here are other qualifications direct from the website:

LEAD ORGANIZER:
• Experience running an organizing campaign in a tough employer environment
• Demonstrated commitment to empower workers through the labor movement
• Proven ability to direct work and lead by example
• Good written and verbal communication skills
• Self starter with the ability to work under supervision
• Knowledge of Chicago labor and politics (preferred)
• Willingness to work nights and weekends as required
• Computer literacy
• Valid driver’s license/ car

I could go on but anyone doing a search will find a good explanation of what a community organizer does. Sen Obama fits the description of all of these positions. He speaks fluently and hopefully can write, although just as he and his supporters have said about Sarah Palin’s speech, I doubt he writes his own speeches. He has proven he can organize a large group of people to listen to him. He even works well with interest groups that promote their own agenda. But, as shown in these descriptions, he has never done anything more than PROMOTE change. As a community organizer that was “above his pay grade” as he likes to say. Do we really want a President whose main source of experience required him to speak and write effectively and motivate supporters of special interest groups and know the inside workings of Chicago politics?

An amazing choice! John McCain has once again proven that he is committed to reform by choosing Alaska’s governor, Sarah Palin, as his VP nominee. Not only is Sarah Palin’s personal story exciting, her time in politics has shown that she is 100% to reform.

Palin’s personal story is filled with interests ranging from basketball to hunting. She worked with her husband as a commercial fisherman, ran as a beauty contestant, and was a sports journalist. She enjoys hockey and has been a lifelong member of the NRA. Her family is large, 5 children, the last born in April.

Politically, Palin is the first woman governor of Alaska, the first person to serve as governor that was born after Alaska was granted statehood, was mayor and served on city council. She has traveled overseas, probably more than Obama, to visit wounded soldiers and one of her sons is set to be deployed to Iraq in September. Palin’s accomplishments in Alaska dwarf Obama’s time in the Senate. She has killed pork barrel projects including the Bridge to Nowhere and passed ethics reform in Alaska that effectively ended the political career of many Republicans. She believes that abortion issues are not above her pay grade, taking a firm pro-life stance. She also passed a constitutional ban on gay marriage but signed into law benefits for homosexual couples. And unlike the current Senate, has passed a budget in the amount of $6.6 billion that included several hundred cuts in wasteful programs totaling over $200 million.

Sen Obama and Sen Biden say that they will change Washington and argue that only they can make real change. Sen Obama even attacked John McCain in his speech last night by saying that McCain voted with Bush 90% of the time (Biden says 95%) and that only gives Americans a 10% chance of change under a McCain administration. Yet Sen Biden and Sen Obama have voted with their party 96% of the time, leaving roughly a 4% chance of real reform. I’ve been out of school for awhile now but 10% is still higher than 4% as far as I know. If Sen Obama is elected, all we may have left is change, in our pockets, to borrow a line from Governor Pawlenty.

With the addition of Sarah Palin to the McCain ticket, the Republicans have effectively shown that they are the party of real reform. Democrats can talk the game but what have they done to prove it. McCain and Palin have worked throughout their careers to change the way government runs and have the record to prove it. Now that’s change I believe in.